29/05/2026
💡 On perspective this week!
🗞 ASEAN Biofuels and Energy Security: Building Resilience Beyond Blending
✍ Zahrah Zafira, Tharinya Supasa, Monika Merdekawati
Biofuels are becoming an increasingly important part of ASEAN’s transport energy security strategy. They are deployable today, compatible with existing vehicles and fuel infrastructure, and can help reduce exposure to imported fossil fuels.
Indonesia’s B40 mandate and Thailand’s long-running gasohol programme show that first-generation biofuels are already operating at material scale in the region. But as blending mandates expand, a harder question emerges: can biofuels strengthen resilience without creating new affordability and sustainability risks?
In this analysis, we examine why ASEAN’s biofuel strategy needs to move beyond blending mandates alone. Building true resilience will require better affordability support, stronger lifecycle accounting and MRV, and a clearer pathway for higher-integrity second-generation biofuels to scale over time.
🔗 Read the full article: go.aseanenergy.org/OpEd